indian leg wrestling
02.15.05
When Indian Leg Wrestling becomes Japan�s second national sport [right now,
sumo is it�s first and only national sport] you�ll have me to thank.
That�s right, I was the one who introduced ILW to Japan. . .on January 1, 2005 at 1:00 AM.
I was staying in the city of Sasebo [north of Nagasaki], watching K1 fights with my friend and his family when I suddenly thought, �Why watch these oafs fight when we can be staging our own fights!�
Being a timid and rather non-aggressive person, it was clear to me that K1 was not a good fit. And that�s when the lights dimmed, the music started, and I found myself transported back to the time that my dad first tried to teach me the art of Indian Leg Wrestling. He beat me squarely, but I have never forgot the lessons I learned that day.
I lost no time in training the Haraoka family how to fight, and within 10 minutes Yoshi was soundly beating his sister and mother thanks to deft leg maneuvers.
[Yoshi vs. Sista Shiho]
21:48
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valentine's day
02.14.05
Ah yes, another loathsome holiday. I was finally recovering from all the lovey-doveyness that is Christmas in Japan, when I found myself being confronted with all sorts of information and sales pitches about chocolate that I, as a woman in Japan, am socially obligated to buy for the special men in my life [for friends and/or significant-other] with the hopes that the favor will be returned exactly 1 month from now on March 14th, �White Day.� On that day, only the men who received Valentine�s Day chocolate are obligated to give chocolate, and only to those women that gave them chocolate on Valentine�s Day.
Why so bitter?
I�ve never had much �success� with Valentine�s Day. As an elementary student, I was always sure that my valentine box had fewer valentines in it than those of my classmates. And I was sure that what valentines were in the box were devoid of any meaning because the sender�s mother had probably forced them to make one out to �the little Phillips girl.�
As I matured and endured junior high and high school, I failed to ever receive any special notice on Valentine�s Day. Although I, on occasion, did let certain young men know that I thought they were dreamy.
Only once did I ever have a boyfriend during Valentine�s Day [sophomore year at university], and on that particular Valentine�s Day I had the distinct displeasure of receiving flowers NOT from my boyfriend, but from someone else [who remains unknown to this day]. My boyfriend, shamed by that fact that he had been outdone�bested by someone who obviously did not think that giving flowers to girls on Valentine�s Day was a sign of weakness�was irritable all day and demanded an explanation of how I could have made myself attractive to someone else.
Do you know what would be nice? If our culture was one that was loving and generous enough that we wouldn�t need these stupid holidays and advertising campaigns in order for us to be motivated enough to express our appreciation for each other. I wish we were able to tell people how we feel without needing a special day or event to give us reason for doing so. Isn�t the presence of the emotion reason enough?
. . .Do you know what else would be nice? If everyone else on earth was just like me�
23:56
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